Hey, Portland fans... What's up with Sergio? McMillan said he will not be part of the rotation during the season. Taurean Green seems to be ahead for the third PG spot considering that Blake and Jack will be the ones that will be playing the most of the minutes. A rookie is playing around three times more minutes than him... Do you think he should be traded?

Either Sergio or Jack will be traded at some point in the next year. McMillan really does not like Sergio's playing style so I don't think they will co-exist for too long unless Sergio drastically improves his decision making. His defense needs work as well. To me he seems really gifted but is several years immature. I would like to see the Blazers package either some sort of a deal with either Jack or Sergio in moving up in the draft next year if we are only a few spots from a player we need.

Really this is a great situation. Its better to have to make some sort of decision in the line-up rather than having to play somebody by default. The losers of the rotation just become valuable trade pieces.

Jack is pretty good, but McMillan wasn't too confident with him either. Thats why he never controlled the ball in the 4th when the game is close (Roy had it in his hands) and that is also why they brought back Steve Blake. I don't know who I would rather lose in a trade, Jack or Sergio? Jack is certainly better at the moment and will probably always be better on the defensive end. Sergio, however, is considered to have a lot more potential. He passing ability has been compared highly to Steve Nash's (note: thats passing ability, not decision making). If his decision making and court awareness continue to improve, we have a potential borderline all-star that thinks pass first. With that said, his value could decrease if he doesn't get to play, but I don't see it diminishing to the point of him simply being used as contract relief in a trade or anything. He is one of those guys that are listed as having "potential". You can trade that type of player without proof of productivity.

Here is a potential scenario that I would be fine with. Say the Blazers have the #5 pick or somewhere in that area and Derrick Rose is being selected #3. We could trade either Jack or Sergio (maybe both if required) plus our pick to get the #3 pick. Then again, we could simply keep them both and pick up a SF in the draft.

I think the question is if it is worth for the Blazers to have a guy with a lot of potential that is going to play 5 minutes per game or less. It is clear that his development will be dramatically reduced if that happens.

Frankly, I don't understand the movements that Portland management made around the PG spot: having Jarret and Sergio they draft Green and then also add Blake. I see Blake coming back to have a veteran that can take the ball in the hard moments and teach the young players. But why to draft another PG?
And also having in mind that Portland is expected to be in the tail-end wagon, and Oden is out the whole season, why not to give Sergio the chance to improve?

I don't see Jack in a trade if McMillan stays. How much will Sergio's value drop if he has very few minutes this year? Enough to be considered just a filler in a trade for a rookie?

To answer your question, teams were offering a lot for the serives of Sergio Rodriguez last season so I think it'll be the same this season. He's like a poor man's Steve Nash. He has a decent jumper and drives the lanes well, and is obviously a creative distributor with no defense, and he rarely played while everyone was healthy last season.

Is Roy good enough to play full time point? If he is, that'd be a dominant backcourt to go along with a dominate frontcourt. Roy, Mayo, Aldridge, and Oden. That's like a roster you make on NBA Live before you start the season.

I think the question is if it is worth for the Blazers to have a guy with a lot of potential that is going to play 5 minutes per game or less. It is clear that his development will be dramatically reduced if that happens.

Frankly, I don't understand the movements that Portland management made around the PG spot: having Jarret and Sergio they draft Green and then also add Blake. I see Blake coming back to have a veteran that can take the ball in the hard moments and teach the young players. But why to draft another PG?
And also having in mind that Portland is expected to be in the tail-end wagon, and Oden is out the whole season, why not to give Sergio the chance to improve?

I'm not sure if he is worth keeping, but I'm sure the management doesn't want another Jermaine O'Neal incident where we trade him and then he blossoms. Blake was brought in because he has the leadership and decision making while his contract is the perfect length for us. It is 3 years I believe (maybe only 2 are guaranteed, I can't remember exactly), which is long enough for us to evaluate if Sergio is the PG of the Blazers future. If he is the Blazers future PG, then there is no need to re-sign Blake to a decent sized contract. Jack's contract runs out in a year (maybe 2) and would rush the Blazer's decision on Sergio (this is hypothetically if we didn't sign Blake). If we go with Sergio, Jack will leave so we would have banked everything on Sergio developing. If we decide to keep Jack, we are going to have to pay up, which is bad if Sergio develops. I'm not sure if the way I wrote that made much since, so let me know if I need to clarify.

The draft of Green changes the whole equation though. He was drafted by us because he was the best player available. It was second round so they didn't expect that he would be in the rotation this year. He was just a positive surprise so we have different angle to the equation now.

Nygher - I don't really have any objections to drafting Mayo because he is the better talent, but I think Rose will fit in better cohesively.

I think your explanation makes sense. I didn't check contracts length so I was missing that part of the equation. Green is, as you said, a good surprise for the Blazers. But even without him Sergio is going to play few minutes if Jack and Blake stay healthy.
I don't know if this can be another J. O'Neal affair, but surely his development will be very reduced if his playing time is limited as expected. And if he is traded and gets minutes he can starts to improve (or not, who knows). So it is almost a loop. But that happens always, so just have to wait and see. Thanks for your thoughts!

berraco its as i have said before on the international forums,Sergio's problem is that he hasn't developed as a player and gone to the NBA.he should have played in European competitions for longer,become a good player ,consolidate and then try the NBA.Players are leaving europe too young and are just warming bench when they could be playing more minutes and developing,like Kukoc,Petrovic,I would say calderon and garbajosa but at the moment they ain't playing much either!

Well, that's applicable for every rookie coming from NCAA or high school. In fact, Sergio is probably more prepared for a challenge like NBA than many of them since he has played a couple of years in a strong professional league like ACB and even with the spanish national team and performed well. Consolidation in Europe doesn't mean success in the NBA (Jasikevicius is the best example), but no playing time as he is getting in Portland surely means no success. Is he not developed as a player? Sure, but neither was Steve Nash when he was drafted and during his initial seasons. It is more a matter of confidence, self-confidence and being backed by your coach. And it seems that now he has got none of the two.